Water-purifying apparatus.



J'. 0. w. GRBI'H. WATER PURIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1907.

S /y. d

I l l ll||lllIl\| I i l l l l l I l l I l I A l l l (III III J. G. W,GRETH.

WATER PURIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION TILED MAY 27, 1907.

Patented Sept. 28, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN C. W. GRETH, 0F PITTSBURG, PENN SYLVANIA, ASSF GI IOB T0 WE-I. B.SCAIFE &

SONS COMPANY, or rrrrseuao, rnnnsrtvnnra, a. coaronarron or new JEBSEY.

WATEE-PUBIFYING Specification of L tt s r t n Patented Sept. as, race.

Application filed May 27, 19.07. Serial No. 375,840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. W. Gnn'rn, a citizen of the United States,residing at littsburg, in the State of Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain new and useful improvements in Water-Purifying Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates especially to intermittent systems of purifyingwater and has for its primary objects, the provision of a series oftanks operated in succession to fill, chemically treat, and settle theWater before carrying to the filters.

Other specific objects are to introduce the water in a more advantageousposition and condition for chemical re-action than heretoforeaccomplished; to provide proper stirring means to manipulate thesediment and the re-action; to provide automatic stirring devices andautomatic valves for keeping the tanks full; to economize power instirring and generally to make such apparatus more nearly automatic andcertain and citicient in its operation.

These objects and other advantages to hereinafter appear, I attain bymeans of the construction illustrated in preferred forms in theaccompanying drawings.

Figure 1; is a side elevation and partial vertical section of the mainpart of the apparatus as designed for a three tank system. Fig. 2 is aplan View of a two tank system, showing the filter and chemical mixer.Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a mixing device of particular value inthis combination.

The problems to be met in an intermittent system of water purifyin arecomplicated and among them is the di culty of properly using thecollected sludge of previous treatments to facilitate the precipitationof impurities. This depends much upon how the raw water is introduced,upon how the stirring device operates, and upon the speed of entry ofthe Water and the speed of the stirring device. In the process oftreating water to 'a re-agent to separate out and precipitateimpurities, the action is better when the precipitate is in a-fiocculentstate toward the end of the action and in order to avoid breaking up ofthe collecting particles of precipitate l find it necessary to graduallyreduce the speed of the stirring device. And in order to properly theprevious sediment at just. the proper time i action begins, it is highlyI duce the water at the bottom of the tank. Again a peculiarly eflicientmeans for making a true solution'of the lime or soda or other re-agentused is very important, because Where lumps of calcium-oxid, forexample, are introduced into the water, they become incrusted withcalcium-carbonate and prevent the formation of the hydrates which causethe precipitation. In other Words, all of the lime is not availableunless it is introduced in the form of lime-hydrate. It is also highlydesirable to introduce the chemical in a predetermined quantity, but itshould be put in in large excess at the start of the action so that inconjunction with the precipitates it increases the action in theirpresence when it is mixed fresh and direct as a stream of hydrate. Thesame considerations apply to the sodium-carbonate often used as are-agent, as the chemical may become crystallized-by taking up water ifit is dumped in in a solid state. 7 t must be introduced as asodium-carbonate solution and not in the form of Sal-soda. Furthermore,the advantages of separate treating with lime and soda are well known.To meet these and other conditions ethciently I design the apparatus asshown in the drawings.

Referring first to Fig. 1 there are provided in this instance threetanks 5, 6 and 7 and they are all fed with raw water from the supplypipe 8, the water entering each tank directly under the inclinedstirring paddles 9 through the branch pipes 10, 10 and 10 The paddles 9are revolved at the proper speed by means of a shaft 11 which extendsdownward and is provided with a gear 12 and driven by means of a watermotor 13 in the branch pipe 10, through its shaft 4 and the worm 15 enaging said gear. The shaft 1% will generally be in constant rotation,being connected to the three motors l3, 13 -and l8" and under each tankthere is provided a clutch 16 which is thrown into gear with the worm 15by means of a lever 17. lhis may be conveniently operated by the handle19 of the valve 18 which in turn is moved by the rising and falling of acord 20 which is provided with buttons 21 and 22 at proper places toengage the valve handle 19 the proper time. The tank has a float 23.which operates the ccrl 2G and at the same time operates the iloatigdraw-0d 4 7 l: e 91 emptying the water through tne o g; 1 u in Y outi eil and leading the nlters 32 its motor operates operate against a and 2.Each tank and the same way. When the .tank is empty, the float 23 willbe at its bottom position, and thereupon, by reason of the lifting ofthe button 22, the valve 18 will be opened and at the same time theclutch 16 will be thrown into engagement. The water under pressure fromsupply pipe 8 will therefore begin to fill the tank 5 and operate. itsstirring paddles 9. The in-rushing of the water will assist the movementof the paddles, and it is to be particularly observed that the firstaction is to stir up the sludge both by the in-comin stream and theaction of the paddles. It is also to be observed that the paddle andmotor at first slight or no head of water, but as the tank fills thehead of water increases which slows up the motion of the paddle and alsotherate of entry of the water. That is, as the'treatment is nearlyfinished the water is allowed to become more quiet and this greatlyfacilitates the precipitation. It will be understood that the chemicalre-agent for treating the water will be introduced either at thebeginning of this action or at any other time as desired, and as shownin Fig. 2, the chemical may be as shown in Figs. 1

pumped in from the mixing tank 26 by means ping the stirring paddle andof a pump 27 also driven by belt from the motor shaft. used forregulating the amount of chemical and the time of its introduction and Igenerally prefer to introduce the lime and soda at separate times. \Vhentank 5 is filled, the float 23 will have allowed the cord 20 to dropdown under its weight \V until the button 21 strikes the handle 19 ofthe valve 18 and closes off the incoming water and at the same timeallows spring lever 17 to shift the clutch 16 out of engagement, thusstopallowing the water to settle. In many cases it is desirable tocontinue the stirring for some minutes after the tank is full and insuch case the clutch may be manually operated'by handle 17-, theconstruction at 25 allowing of independent movement to close the clutchagainst the spring shown, but not to re-open the valve. While the waterin tank 5 is settling, the water in tank 7 may be emptying through thefloating outlet pipe 2t and pipe 9 leading to the filter. The filter asshown in Fig. 1 I prefer to provide with a self-regulating inlet valve34, and float 35, to keep it at a proper level as shown. The tank 6 inthe meanwhile will be filling, as before described, and in general itwill be understood that some one of the tanks is being filled all thetime and that whenever any one of themotors is in use, the shaft 14 isrevolving so that the chemical can be fed in by its pump or any one ofthe clutches inay be thrown in to operate the stirrer whenever desired.It is also'to be noted that when all of the Any desired device may bewith the requirements ceases tanks are full all of the motors arestopped and therefore the machinery is only running when actually beingused.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a two tank arrangement, and the motors can beused in duplicate or a single motor used, the clutches being arrangedproperly to throw'in either stirring device and the motor shaft alwaysrunning when either inlet to the tanks is open as in Fig. 1. Thechemical tank is preferably of the form shown in Fig. 3, which isspecifically claimed in my Patent No. 855,631 of June 4th, 1907. By thismeans the chemical is reduced to a thoroughly mixed solution in theproper form for reaction, and no lumps can be introduced. The chemicaltank 26 (Fig. 2) may be provided with a pump 27 run by a belt from theshaft 14 and the motors (shown in Fig. 1), and by meansof the pipes 29it will feed the chemical into either tank, at the time and in thequantityv which may be desired. The re-action tanks 30, 31 are used inalternation and are operated as heretofore described for the three tanksystem. The outlet to the filter is rovided with valves 9, 9 and 9(Fig.1 This filter 32 is preferably of the gravity type; and is fed fromthe pipe 33 as before described. In this system each tank automaticallystarts its stirring device and opens the water inlet whenever it isempty, and stops the motor and water inlet whenever it is full, and thefilter inlet valve regulates the out-flow from the draw ofi' pipes. Thewhole apparatus is thus semi automatic and the time of filling andemptying of coursemay be regulated by means of theinain inlet valve 36as shown in Fig. 1. The in-flow of the water takes place at the bottomand assists in the stirring up of sludge and also increases the speed ofthe paddles at the time when the stirring should be most vigorous.

The Water maybe treated separately with,

the lime and soda and the precipitates are used to increase thechemical. action. The stirring device op.- erates against a heavier loadas the action nears completion and it is also less assisted by thein-fiow of water because such in-fiow is slower under the heavier head,so that the stirring is accomplished in exact accordance for goodchemical action. ()ther advantages will readily occur to those familiarwith the art.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is the following 1. In water purifyingapparatus, the combination with a plurality of tanks, of a common waterinlet under head, to the bottom of each tank, a motor and stirringdevice fori each tank, and means whereby each stirring device isoperated directly by the water coming into any one of the tanks.

2. In water purifying apparatus a reaction tank having a water inlet atits base, a motor operated by the incoming water, a stirring deviceplaced over the water inlet and run by said motor and a float governingthe starting and stopping of the in-flow of water, substantially asdescribed.

3 In water purifying apparatus, a reaction tank having an inlet in itsbottom, inclined stirring paddles placed over the inlet and in the pathof the incoming water, a motor and gear to operate said paddles, a valveand float-operated means to open and close the valve and connect themotor drive gearing, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a reaction tank and a stirring device therein,ofa water feed entering directly at the bottom of the tank, and a motorlocated at the bottom of the tank and driven by the incoming water,whereby the speed of the stirring device is dependent on the head ofwater in the tank.

5. An intermittent water purifying system, comprising a series of tanks,a common water inlet having branches to the several tanks, a water motorin each branch, and stirring devices in each of the tanks, and means toautomatically operate the stirring device by said motor in any of thetanks,

when any one of the tanks is being filled.

6. In a water purifying system, the com bination of a reaction tank, asingle water inlet at its bottom, a motor and a stirring device operatedby the incoming water,

whereby the speed thereof is varied directly.

by varying the water level in the tank, and means to automatically openand close the inlet valve and simultaneously start and stop the stirringdevice respectively when the tank-is empty and when it is full.

7. In water purifying apparatus, the combination of a reaction tankhaving a water inlet at its bottom, a motor therein forming part of theinlet conduit and driven by the incoming water, a stirring device in thetank operated by said motor, a float, a valve in the inlet connected tothe float, and means by which the float opens the valve and starts themotor at once when the tank is empty and closes the valve and stops themotor at once when the tank is full, substantially as described.

8. In water purifying apparatus, the combination of a treatment tankprovided with a water inlet at its bottom, a motor operated directly bythe whole volume of incoming water, a stirring device driven by saidmotor, a float-actuated valve adapted to start the motor when the tankis empty and to stop the inflow and the motor when the tank is full.

9. In an intermittent water purifying system, the combination of aseries of react-ion tanks,-a Water inlet having branches to each of saidtanks, a stirring device in each tank and a water motor in each branchof the inlet pipe operated by the whole of the incoming water for itsown tank, and operating said stirrer, and automatic means governed bythe Water level in each tank to start and stop its own stirring devicewithout affecting the motors in the other tanks.

10. In water purifying apparatus the combination of a series of tankseach having a water inlet, a motor placed in the inlet to each tank andsaid motors having a common shaft, and means by which each stirringdevice may be operated from said shaft when its tank is being filled,substantially as described. 1

11. In water purifying apparatus the combination with a series oftreatment tanks each having a water inlet, of a motor in each inlet, acommon shaft for the motors, and a stirring device in each tank andautomatic means to connect the stirring device for operation by saidshaft, when the tank is being filled.

12. In water purifying apparatus the combination with a treatment tank,a water motor and an inlet from the water motor to the tank, a shiftingclutch revolved by the motor and operating a stirring device in thetank, a valve and means to open the. valve and start the stirring devicewhen the tank is empty and to close the valve and stop the. stirringdevice when the tank is full.

13. In intermittent water purifying apparatus the combination with a.plurality of treatment tanks, of a water inlet for each tank and a motoroperated by the incoming water, a chemical tank having means topulverize chemicals, a pump operated by the motor to feed the chemicalfrom said chemical tank to the re-action tank, and means operated by thewater level in the re-action tank to start and stop said motor,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunder signed my name this 25th day ofMay. 19Q7, in the presence of the tWo subscribed witnesses.

JOHN C. IV. GRETH.

\Vitnesses:

F. W. H. CLAY, CHAS. S. Lnrrur.

